Ontario RCMP shuts down prolific Cyber-fraudsters

MILTON, ON, Feb. 20, 2025 /CNW/ - Two Toronto residents are facing criminal charges after allegedly defrauding hundreds of Canadian victims out of millions of dollars. The couple are believed to have used technology that allowed them to conceal their phone number in order to pose as bank, government or police employees to deceive their victims and trick them out of their hard-earned savings.

"Ispoof.cc" was a website used by as many as 38,000 subscribers worldwide to make unauthorized phone calls while displaying a caller ID falsely indicating that they were legitimate callers. This particular technology allowed criminals to purchase a subscription in order to use the service to impersonate trusted corporations. The Toronto couple is believed to be among the top 50 most active subscribers in the world.

Ontario RCMP's Cybercrime Investigative Team (CIT) Toronto conducted search warrants on the residence belonging to the suspects which has yielded a trove of seized items including electronic devices. Investigators will conduct analysis on these devices to uncover further evidence of these crimes, which were responsible for de-frauding at least 570 victims out of millions of dollars in Canada. We expect the number of identified victims will increase as a result of the execution of search warrants yesterday.

According to the Cybercrime unit, the couple used a variety of different spoofing, phishing and smishing schemes to target their victims.

Chakib Mansouri (29) and Majdouline Alouah (31) face the following charges:

• Fraud, contrary to section 380(1) of the Criminal Code
• Unauthorized use of Computer contrary to section 342.1 of the Criminal Code
• Laundering Proceeds of Crime, contrary to section 462.31 of the Criminal Code
• Unauthorized Possession of Credit Card Data, contrary to section 430(1.1) of the Criminal Code
• Possessing the Proceeds of Crime, contrary to section 354 of the Criminal Code

Both suspects were arrested and remanded to Maplehurst and Vanier and will appear remotely in Court at 10a.m. on February 21^st, Ontario Court of Justice, 2201 Finch Avenue West, Toronto.

The Cybercrime Unit would like to thank the following partners, the London Metropolitan Police, the Dutch National Police, EUROPOL, EUROJUST, Toronto Police, Peel Regional Police, FINTRAC, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC), and the National Cybercrime Coordination Centre (NC3) for all the hard work and collaboration provided during the course of the investigation.

"This investigation underscores the critical importance of international cooperation in the global fight against cybercrime. In our interconnected world where cyber threats transcend borders, collaboration between law enforcement agencies, both domestically and internationally, is essential. The work we do together exemplifies our commitment to holding cyber criminals accountable and protecting Canadians.

The impact of this type of cybercrime has devastating impacts on our families and communities.  I encourage all Canadians to help protect themselves by learning to be cyber safe. If you think you have been targeted by cyber criminals, please call the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501."

—  Lina Dabit, Inspector in charge of Cybercrime Investigative Team Toronto, Central Region RCMP

Fast Facts

The RCMP Cybercrime Investigative Team (CIT) Toronto investigates the highest levels of cybercrime threatening Canadians and our national interests.  This includes cybercrime directed against:

• Institutions of government
• Critical infrastructure of national importance
• Key Canadian institutions and businesses with a high economic impact

Working in partnership with domestic and international partners to investigate, prosecute, and disrupt significant threats within the cybercrime ecosystem including criminals who develop malware, provide cybercrime services and infrastructure, and facilitate attacks against critical infrastructure, including Foreign State actors and advanced persistent threats.

The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre processed 49,432 reports in 2024 representing 34,621 victims who lost a total of $638,000,000.

If you have any information relating to this or any other acts of fraud contact local police, or one of the contacts below:

• The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501
• Anonymously through Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS), at any time

Twitter: @RCMPONT
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Website: RCMP in Ontario 

SOURCE Royal Canadian Mounted Police - Central Region

RCMP Central Region (Ontario), Communications & Media Relations, Email: [email protected]